Thursday

Cancer Bio test - pretty hard but I think I did ok (turns out I got 80%)

Friday

Although I am enjoying my Music in the Rock era class I do sometimes wonder why I'm there. We have a test on Monday so some people have started revising for it. Two of these people sat down in today's class before the lecture started and were quizzing each other on stuff that would come up on the test. The guy read "What is a riff?" to which the girl regurgitated some bulls*** book definition. The guy then asked "and can you name an example?" By this point my head was in my hands, I couldn't believe A) how seriously they were taking this and B) they didn't realise they sounded like such morons. The worst was yet to come, the girl said 'um...(a few seconds pause to think) it's only rock n roll by the rolling stones'. The guy then seemed to want to show off his 'knowledge' or riffs. He stated how he had 'researched riffs' on the internet and named some obvious ones like sweet child o' mine, seven nation army etc. Over hearing this conversation I suddenly wanted to smother those two students and anyone who takes this class that seriously - what kind of a moron 'researches riffs'.

I then went straight to my Molecular techniques exam, it was ok, I think I probably got a B, I definitely misread a question and then didn't realise my mistake until time was up.

It's darwin's 202nd birthday, so naturally all evolutionary biologists on Friday 11th just have a birthday party for Darwin, there was cake and we watched Planet Earth for the whole of our lecture, it was a nice way to finish the week.

In the evening we went to a friend's house for drinks and games, it turns out Americans are relatively poor at holding their drink. The less said about that the better I think.

Saturday

Apparently saying "I really fancy getting a Chinese" to an American sounds far more sinister than going for a take-away. My friends nervously laughed and asked for clarification on what I meant. Luckily I managed to redeem myself, the last thing I need is a reputation as a sex-trafficker.

Snowboarding today, the conditions were great and the queues were relatively short so we got many runs in. Unfortunately I didn't think I needed sun cream, my lack of foresight means I am developing a very silly goggle burn/tan.

Sunday

A very lazy day, all I did really was revise for music in the rock era midterm, surely it's not going to be that difficult?

Monday - the dreaded valentines day

I had my Music in the Rock era exam - I think it went okay

Went to the gym at about 11pm, the problem with going at this time is that all the freaks that live under rocks during the day come out. One guy was getting so into his workout that it sounded like he was having sex with the weight machine. Me and the other 5 or so people in the gym were awkwardly tried to avoid looking to his side of the room.

Wednesday

Pendulum - The ogden theatre is a great venue, it probably has a capacity of just over 1000, balconies on either side for those who didn't feel like dancing and the standing area at the bottom is tiered so you don't have trouble seeing over people. We arrived late enough to miss DJ Fury (thank god, his youtube channel was terrible) in time for Innerpartysystem's last 3 songs. They were actually one of the best support acts I've seen, actually had good gear and were set up properly. Pendulum were incredible, Rob swire was singing on less songs than I would have liked (many were rapped by Ben Mount) but it was a great gig. The funny thing was that it seemed only a few Americans could understand the rapper's London accent, I had to translate for Kevin and Thomas.

Thursday

I got an A on my Music in the Rock era exam, I will be quite upset if I don't ace this class.

The hall council for our dorm has to nominate a 'Resident of the month' and send it upwards to the big cheeses in the housing committee. I was chosen as the resident of the month and this was the nomination written by Trevor:

Jonathan Price, amazing resident of College Inn Hall, has been a great source for support in the college inn community. He has added countless suggestions to the Hall Council to improve the lives of residents and make College Inn a great place to live. He has covered for hall council members in their duties when they were unable to achieve them for any reason. Not only has his support made the administration of College Inn flow more smoothly, but he has added a huge amount to the lives of residents. Jonny can be found playing his guitar in the public areas of the hall and has accepted every request to play for someone. His incredible talent has not only impressed almost every resident, but has filled their hearts with musical joy, even if his tunes can become a little dark at times. On top of his deep musical talent, many have experienced, but few have been able to conquer Jonny's ping pong mastery. Jonny can be found playing ping pong, as he calls "table tennis", with stressed residents at night before they drop off to bed. This sport has taken up large popularity in the hall, even promoted enough to have Hall Council put on a ping pong tournament. Jonny won, of course. Even though Jonny knows how to unleash the ping pong smack-down, he is a very sportsman like player and always plays fairly, even teaching some of the residents his techniques. Beyond these valiant and noble actions done by Jonny, he has shared something even more important to the residents of College Inn. Blessed by being born in Wales and living in England most his life, Jonny is an exchange student from Lancaster. He has shared his culture, his language, accent, and the history of the United Kingdom with many residents. It has been an enlightening experience to have Jonathan Price as a resident in College Inn Hall and has added happiness and joy to his community.

On reflection, I don't think he took this task too seriously, but I will gladly accept the god-like status that has been bestowed on me.

Saturday

After a nice lie-in I went to winter park to go snow tubing with friends, by the end I had mastered the running-start face-first technique, I also managed to get some air on a jump that was unrivalled. After the snow tubing I had a quick shower and then was picked up to go for a dinner party with the Boulder students who'd been at Lancaster last year. It was a nice evening with good food, great sangria, good company and good party games (even if my close-to-the-bone, dry wit wasn't appreciated by everyone)

Monday - 20th Birthday

It has been a very surreal birthday, I felt quite homesick and unfortunately my birthday cards didn't arrive in time because it's President's Day (like a bank holiday). But I had a nice evening in with some friends and look forward to using my coldstone voucher to purchase many ice creams before the term is over. Practically every present from my friends was food in some form, clearly I am a gluttonous pig.

The quarter life crisis has begun, luckily being 20 doesn't seem as old because 20 year olds in America are still treated like children.

Tuesday - Parents arrive

After a long day working I greeted my parents into Boulder and we had some takeaway pizza before I left them to sleep and overcome the jet lag.

Wednesday

The first good meal I've had in ages - me and the family went to a Tapas restaurant.

Thursday

After finishing lectures at 12 30 I was picked up by my parents and we travelled to the mountains for a long weekend on skiing. In the evening we went to the ski resort and went night skiing (basically skiing under massive floodlights). It was a bizarre experience skiing in the dark, it was a little bit eerie but I loved that we practically had the slopes to ourself.

Friday and Saturday

Skiing with family and friends in 2 different resorts, on Saturday night a group of us went to a restaurant, there we taught Kevin the valuable skill of managing to eat his entire meal (much to his displeasure).

Sunday

The final day skiing, in a race between me, Kevin and Andrew I finished second (boarding is harder...that's my excuse) but my celebration MAY have been a little ambitious and I MAY have fallen over, if you look at the video on facebook it basically looks like I tried to sit down at 30mph.

Tuesday

Last meal with parents, we went somewhere that had fish and chips on the menu! Unfortunately the chips were saltier than a macdonalds meal that had been marinated in the sea.

Wednesday

The family have just left and while it was obviously sad it's really not that long until June. I need to start thinking of things I want to do before I leave, I only have 2 months left until I finish university here!

Thanks for reading.